Thursday, April 23, 2009

A Quick Epiphany

I just watched Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" and, well, God damn. It's a pretty emotionally powerful documentary. I recommend the crap out of it, but that's neither here nor there at the moment. What's crucial for this blog is a little epiphany I had, and it went a little something like this:

After the walls crumble, how long does it take for the societal psyche to heal and stigmas to fade? How long will it take for the horrors of post-Katrina New Orleans to transform into a lattice of grim statistics? Similarly, have Berliners learned to appreciate the history of the wall or is it still a bitter memory?

What interests me most within this inquiry is what, if anything other than time, facilitates the healing process? Americans swathed Lousianans and other Gulf Coasters with support after it was evident the government had their priorities mixed. The NBA put the 2008 All-Star game in New Orleans, which kicked off a campaign to reunite New Orleans with the economic and cultural fabric of America. Did the USSR send Berliners a fruit basket? Better yet, would it have helped?

I might bring over a little treat for Berliners when we fly to Germany, apologizing for the Soviets. Hopefully I don't get my ass kicked.
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4 comments:

  1. D$April 30, 2009 at 2:02 AM

    re: how long does it take?

    I would guess 1 generation (10-20 years)so as to have the children born AFTER the traumatic/stigmatizing event shape the community consciousness. Can't teach old dogs new tricks, but new puppies can certainly influence old dogs (or silence them through barking/whining).

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  2. Julie VillegasApril 30, 2009 at 9:52 AM

    Hi John,
    Some information for you from Manuela, re: border guards...

    Regarding the former border guards: This is kind of highly sensitive. People who served at the border are reluctant to talk about their time at
    the border. Border guards had to follow the "shoot-to-kill-order" and many people had been killed while fleeing the country. Therefore, former border guards are always confronted with this implicit question of "have you ever followed the order?" To get an idea about the whole structure of the troops at the border,
    here a link.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenztruppen_der_DDR

    http://www.amnesty.nl/bibliotheek_vervolg/thema_berechting_case_1

    ReplyDelete
  3. Julie VillegasApril 30, 2009 at 9:55 AM

    Also, rethinking my relaxed attitude about you renting a car in Berlin...a UW student in New Zealand, traveling in rental care after the UW program ended was killed in a crash. This was just recently. Driving while abroad can be pretty tricky/dangerous. I would discourage this. BUT...a few students last year drove Trebis in Berlin. This is a different thing...they had fun and it was a safe activity (with some thrill). Julie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Julie VillegasApril 30, 2009 at 9:58 AM

    I mean "trabi" or "trabant" Here's more information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant

    ReplyDelete

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